I have been smoking my Savinelli Duca Carla for a good month or so now, and to my alarm, the rim of the bowl is starting to lose some of the paint.. or finish... or whatever it is. Its not overly noticeable, but I can't help but feel that this is wrong. I've seen some beautiful estate pipes that didn't have this. Is this normal? I use a lighter when I smoke. Normally a bic, but I have a zippo in the mail. Should I start using matches instead? Or is this completely normal and I'm losing it over nothing? I ask because I have a Pete on the way, and would REALLY hate to start bad habits with my two nicest pipes.

Have you spit on a paper towel and rubbed the rim clean of tar and grunge accumulation after a month of smoking? 30-seconds of spit and paper can make weird stuff look normal again. Pipe-wise, that is.

The finish seems to lend itself to discoloration especially on the rim. It may be the matte finish but mine picks up carbon like a champ and quickly and easily gets discolored. I hit it with a bit of spit and a t shirt and occasionally use a bit of alcohol on a pipe cleaner to bring it back, quickly cleaning the alcohol off to prevent actually taking off the finish. I do not have that issue to the same extent with any of my other pipes.

I don't see wood showing on your rim....it looks like carbon build up like o get on my pipe..... if not I am sure someone else will be able to help.

So... I have a Pete on the way, and would REALLY hate to start bad habits with my two nicest pipes.

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And this is another reason why many Old Farts suggest starting out with a good old Missouri Meerschaum corncob pipe. They are great smokers, forgiving, inexpensive and if something goes wrong they create a common language we all understand.

monkey said:

...use a bit of alcohol on a pipe cleaner to bring it back, quickly cleaning the alcohol off to prevent actually taking off the finish

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Not sure I'd advise alcohol for contact with finish, however briefly, unless you're OK with stripping the contact point. As monkey suggests there are times and places to remove some grunge, stain or topical finishes etc., but rookies should take note - don't experiment on something you love with alcohol. YMMV

Hmm. Sorry for the poor pic fellows. I think I'll have to bust out the camera for this one. The finish is clearly coming off in the rear, but my camera phone doesn't do it justice. I was curious if the finish coming off was normal.

I have a cob, and its sorta blackened on the top and around the rear of the rim. This is mostly due to when I puff, the bic's flame is drawn back. Not sure how to avoid this.

It looks like 'gunk' building up to me. The spit and rag scenario may be all you need to get it back to 'new...ish'. I've received several estates now that looked like their rims were purposefully charcoaled, but with elbow grease, I got them back to wood and looking good. Of course, it is possible it is removed finish; in that case, two suggestions for the future...don't overpack your bowls and never hold a flame stationary while lighting. I don't believe matches v. Bic v. Zippo will show a clear winner in avoiding this issue of yours btw.

...when I puff, the bic's flame is drawn back. Not sure how to avoid this...

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Keep the flame moving around over the tobacco when you fire up and, of course, away from the rim as much as possible. Regardless, I think you just have some grunge on the rim until a better picture reveals otherwise. Except for my not-beloved Kaywoodie white briar (that I threw away after it blistered my fingers) I never experienced with a pipe whose painted finish could come off - and at that it needed to be sanded off.

I think you may be misreading the status of things and hope your fix will be a damp* wipe of the rim.

If you are using a Bic lighter, you may be scorching the rim. If the spit-n-tee shirt trick doesn't fix things, that's the problem. Solution is to change lighters. Use matches or a Zippo pipe lighter...something that you can control the flame better with.

With a fresh set of eyes, and daylight, I realized my error. It looks as if the 'damage' is wax. And its far smaller then I thought under proper lighting. I rubbed away with a paper towel and some good old fashioned saliva. Looks like a false alarm.

Thanks for the advice and bearing with me! Just kinda freaked because I'm pretty excited, and didn't want to start any bad habits with my nicer pipes. (My MM Cob has a near black rim.) However, I think this advice will help. The Bic may be the issue on the cob, and may be what is peeling a bit of the wax off on the tip of the savinelli. I think I'm going to try the pipe lighter when it gets here and keep a close eye on it.

Still hard to tell what I'm talking about. I believe the Finish is coming off, or the wax or something. SOMETHING is an issue, I can pick it at with my fingernail and life some more off. (Obviously I'm not, but I wanted to make sure the paper towel wasn't fooling my eyes or something)

The prior issue was a lack of sleep. This looks to be from my Pipe Lighter.

I'm devastated, and probably won't use that zippo again. (My Bic's work a heck of a lot better, and they arn't attacking my pipes. Matches may be another option.)

Can you guys see what I'm talking about? I circled it in Paint to be clear. My camera is missing its battery. (No idea where.) So I'm using my phone again.

I'm devastated, and probably won't use that zippo again. (My Bic's work a heck of a lot better, and they arn't attacking my pipes. Matches may be another option.)

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Please don't be devastated. It's a pipe, it can be repaired or replaced. I'm not trying to be a smarty pants by saying that, it's just that the pipe is a thing, things come and go. It will be OK (Mr. Moo guarantees it)

Moo is right, try taking the picture outside with lots of light. Also, you might be holding the pipe too close to the lens. Take 5 photos with different lighting, angles, and distances and then pick the best one or two of the batch.

What dwaugh said that I said is true. Worst case scenario: smoke the pipe and don't wipe off the rim too often. Grunge will again cover the the mysterious finish deviation and the pipe will (still) smoke fine.